John’s Asian Salad Dressing

This dressing really brightened up a basic salad.

Grilled Hanger Steak with Charred Pepper Steak Sauce

Man, this steak was so delicious. I credit two things: delicious grass-fed beef from The Local Market (a great store in Falls Church which is like a farmer’s market every day), and this delicious steak sauce recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Homemade Ricotta

Becky gave me this recipe. Easy enough that I may not buy ricotta again.

Spinach Garlic Butter

Not really sure how I came up with this recipe. But I was in serious clean-out-the-fridge mode when I made this, first for garlic bread and then as a topping for Thanksgiving green beans (pictured below).

Feta Vinaigrette

I remember seeing a recipe for a feta dressing online somewhere, but can’t remember where. I decided to wing something like it for tonight’s Cobb salad.

Raspberry Peach Jam

Jam take two (and canning take three!). Another Coconut & Lime recipe. Again, made just 2/3 of the amount, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Recipe was a bit thinner than my first jam, but still solidified enough to work (I also wasn’t that judicious about getting all the pectin out  of the container, plus my mixture boiled over a little). Note: Be sure to smash up the peach well.

 

Blueberry Balsamic Jam

Kitchen Goal #8 complete! This is a Coconut & Lime recipe. My only change was making 2/3 the quantity.

Only four more tasks to go: homemade pasta, candy, lobsters and cheese…

 

Basil and Arugula Pesto with Garlic Scapes

This pesto came together really well, combining garden and CSA bounty.

Amusingly, it was born out of a major kitchen mistake – I grabbed a box of raw sugar thinking it was kosher salt, and made, um, sweet pesto, using up just about all my basil. But I had enough basil in the garden to make a second batch, supplementing with arugula. And John claims he’s going to turn the sugary pesto into ice cream. We’ll see how that goes.

John’s Lemon and Saffron Aoli

We topped the fish burgers with this.

John’s Creole Salad Dressing

This was the dressing topping the salad we had with the gumbo. Really nice flavor